Monday, April 19, 2010

A $7 Miracle

Sway left. Sway right. Sway left. Sway right. Pat. Pat. Pat. Repeat.

This is the routine that Claire and I go through almost every morning as she struggles to fall asleep. You can tell she's tired. She's sending all the signals — a little fussy, yawning, limp arms and legs. But she can't seem to soothe herself to sleep. So, without the luxury of a swing, I sway back and forth until her eyelids close. And then for at least another five minutes to make sure she's really asleep.

Sway left. Sway right.

I'm a human swing. And it's breaking my back.

We meant to buy one before the girls were born. But we didn't. And now I'm paying for it — two advil at a time.

Sway right. Sway left. Sway right.

But this weekend, I was on a mission. My Mom, Dad and I go to this HUGE consignment sale every spring. On Saturday, we drove up about five minutes before the sale opened. And there were already about 200 people in line. Ugh. But as soon as we hit the front door, we rushed in. Two swings left. One looked like a pit bull had been snacking on it. The other looked like this:

Our Family

On Dec. 26, 2009, our lives were forever changed with the birth of our twin daughters -- Grace and Claire. Five years later, we rocked our world again with the birth of our son, Henry. Each day brings new adventures: we relish the good ones, survive the bad ones and hope that we're teaching our kiddos something along the way.